Yes, dear reader, the time has come. Everything in life has a beginning and an ending, and I believe that it’s time to wrap up The Greening of Gavin blog and podcast. All good things come to an end (to quote a very famous Star Trek series)!

It’s with a home brew beer in hand that I say goodbye.

All Good Things…

With no major greening projects on the horizon or further lifestyle enhancements planned, I’ve essentially run out of things to say, which after 1,870 posts and 132 podcast episodes is quite understandable.

I’m officially passing the baton to a younger generation of bloggers and influencers who may have better luck convincing the masses further to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

I know that I’ve played my part in the rebirth of the simple living revolution judging from the amount of feedback and emails I receive every day, so I feel very proud of that accomplishment. I, like you, can make a big difference in the world.

What have we achieved?

During the journey, we’ve retrofitted the house with many green features, renovated the gardens into an organic food farm, and transformed the way we think and live. All that, as well as starting a green business teaching others some simple living skills.

When I reflect back to that crazy day when my whole world was turned upside-down, I would never in a million years have thought that the blog would have come this far and how it would eventually have impacted our lifestyle for the better.

And to you, the reader. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting and following my family’s journey and antics since February 2008 when I penned the very first post. It’s been a wild ride, sometimes controversial, but always interesting and fun.

So where to from here?

Well, the blog posts and podcast episodes will remain online until the either the internet is destroyed or peak oil begins to impact us all. Just joking, it will still be here as a valuable resource for as long as there are bits and bytes. Check out my archive for all the posts.

The eBookstore will remain open as well where you can buy the six eBooks that I’ve written over the years. Check out shop.greeningofgavin.com for all those books, including the free The Greening of Gavin eBook!

Also, I will still have a strong online presence as I will be maintaining the associated Facebook page and YouTube channel for The Greening of Gavin. If anything exciting happens around here then that is where I will be posting this type of update.

Additionally, the YouTube channel, CheeseMan.tv, will continue to release a weekly cheese making video, as well as my cheese making blog and associated podcast at Little Green Cheese.

Little Green Cheese Podcast

To cap it all off, our home business, Little Green Workshops, is still growing strongly and will more than compensate for any time I gain from ending the blog and the podcast. We are still running cheese, soap, soy candle, and bath soak & scrub workshops each school term if anyone wants to learn these dying skills. You can find all the details of these courses on our workshops calendar.

Click Through to the Shop!

Adieu

So dear reader, this is it. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support, and I hope to see you on my other blogs and YouTube channels in the very near future.

Goodbye, my friends and keep on striving for a more sustainable world.

Many of you may know that Kim and I run a small home based green business called Little Green Workshops. We teach cheese, cold processed soap, soy candle, and bath soak & scrub courses at our local community centre. We also sell kits, supplies, and gifts for anyone who is not close by.

We got the inspiration to start this venture because many of you asked for more information about how we make and do some of the things we perform on a weekly basis, living a more sustainable lifestyle here in the ‘burbs.

Many of you may be wondering how it is all going. Well let me give you an End of Year update.

This financial year (1 July 2015 – 30 June 2016) we clocked up the following stats;

Workshops taught: 27

Private Classes: 6

Students attended: 247

Website page views: 180,355

Website orders dispatched: 650

Countries shipped to: 6

YouTube Videos Tutorials created: 36

YouTube views: 815,331

Gavin and Kim

We are pleased with these statistics, especially when it is only our 1st full year and 20 months of operation. We are also very proud of what we have achieved so far and are seeing sustainable growth month on month (besides the Christmas spike).

You know I’m a fairly modest bloke, but it’s taken a lot of hard work to get where we are today.

They say that many small business tank in the first five years due to debt overload and other factors. We haven’t taken out loans or borrowed to support the business.

Thankfully due to the low startup cost of setting up and maintaining an eCommerce presence on the Internet, and in part this blog and our YouTube channels, we have been able to reach a wider audience of students than we would normally have been able to. Students who are keen to learn and create their own sustainable products, knowing exactly what goes into them and keeping it all natural.

We also began regular shipping to five new countries besides Australia this year due to demand; New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, and South Africa.

Click Through to the Shop!

All in all we are ecstatic that we’ve kept managed to our core green values in every business decision we make. Sustainably sourced packaging, avoid single use products and plastic, run a carbon neutral worksite and websites, and sell products where others can make and do instead of just consume.

So as a special thank you and a gift for you, and to share in the success that you have helped to create, we have just launched a limited two-day sale over at Little Green Workshops, offering 10% off all products (excluding course bookings). Sale ends at 2359 hr (midnight) 30th June 2016 Australian Eastern Time.

You can use the coupon code in bold below in your cart or checkout to apply the discount;

eofysale2016

Thank you once again for reading, watching, and listening to our blog posts, podcasts, and videos during the last 12 months and following our sustainable living journey.

Without you regularly visiting this site, I would still be a conspicuous consumer, unmotivated to strive to be greener, stuck in the rat race, plodding through life in misery.

By being able to share our sustainable living journey with you, I’ve given myself permission to live, love, and enjoy life to the fullest!

Will this article help someone you know? If so help them out by sharing now!

This weekend was so much fun. I taught my first three cheese beginners cheesemaking course.

Yes, I had taught cheesemaking courses before, but just mozzarella and not in long form. My new course was 5 hours 30 minutes long and the students learnt how to make three basic cheeses; Paneer, Whole milk Ricotta, and Quick Mozzarella.

So let me share the day with you.

Kim and I set up the training kitchen with 30 minutes to spare before the class started.

Training Kitchen Setup

The cost per student was $130, and they received a 30 minute Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit, two wooden cheese boards, and all the cheese they made on the day.

We had great feedback from the students that it was great value for money and that they only booked on it because they learnt how to make three cheeses in a day.

The Students

So lets meet these students shall we?

Emily and Petar

Emily and Petar were a lovely couple who were from Melbourne. Both had a wonderful thirst for cheese knowledge and asked many pertinent questions during the day.

Gavin Pip and Margaret

Gavin (that’s me), with Pip and Margaret. Pip travelled from Melbourne, however Margaret travelled all the way from Biloela in Queensland! She is one dedicated curd nerd. Both had a great sense of humor and it made the day a pleasure.

The Cheese

So let’s have a look at the cheese that everyone made.

Before we touched the first drop of milk, I taught them how to sanitize their cheese making equipment and utensils and how to keep their work areas clean during the cheese making session. They sanitized all their gear in between each session to ensure hygienic practices.

Paneer was the first cheese they made. To make this cheese, you are required to boil the milk then add natural yoghurt and lemon juice.

Preventing the milk from burning

Unfortunately it took a little longer than expected, because the electric stoves we had a hand in the training kitchen wouldn’t get hot enough to boil the milk! I’ve never had this issue on a gas stove top.

It was starting to burn on the bottom, so I quickly made an executive decision and instructed them to add the extra ingredients at 90-95°C.

It’s then drained and pressed between two boards with 2kg of weight.

Pressing Paneer

Fortunately, this worked and after 30 minutes of pressing in butter muslin, all students created their own Paneer. I think they were going to make a curry to use it in.

Paneer being cut

Next cheese was Ricotta, which I don’t have any photos of. Suffice it to say that everyone’s Ricotta was successful, some making it really soft and others making it a little firmer. I have a special recipe that allows you to vary the softness of this cheese, which all students got to take home. There was so much of it, that each batch just fit into their 1 litre containers.

After lunch we made the final cheese, Mozzarella. This cheese only takes about 30 minutes to make and is of the pasta filata family of cheese.

All students were successful, although Petar need a hand to form the cheese for stretching (I don’t think his milk was acidic enough). As it was his first try, he was still happy with the result and knew how to fix it next time he makes Mozzarella.

Gavin lending a hand to make mozzarella

Once the curd has been stretched and formed into balls, they immersed the balls into iced water to cools down quickly so they keep their shape.

Mozzarella in iced water

Here are some Mozzarella that Margaret made, ready to take home.

Mozzarella by Margaret

Success!

Each proud student asked me to sample their cheese, and all were as I expected; delicious.

At the end of the day’s class, the students volunteered to wash up which was unexpected, but very welcome.

I had a few cheese making items for sale at the end of the class. Mostly books and gear that wasn’t supplied in the kit that we have for sale at Little Green Workshops.

Cheese gear for sale

Everyone were so happy with their cheese and the course that we even had class photos!

Emily and Petar with their cheese

Here is Emily and Petar with their cheese. Emily is holding her cheese in the following order, Paneer (top), Whole milk Ricotta (middle), and Mozzarella (bottom). That’s Pip in the background photobombing!

Before they all went their separate ways we had a class photo. There were smiles all round.

Both Kim and I had so much fun during the day. It felt so good imparting my cheese making knowledge and at the end, I shook each person’s hand and dubbed them an official curd nerd 🙂

Anyway, so far this school term, our course has been extremely popular. We had only planned to teach one course this quarter, however due to demand, we put on another class on 5th June, which has subsequently been booked out.

I think we’ve hit upon a winning cheese class formula! We were even asked by Margaret to see if we could teach an advanced cheese making class, so we are giving it some thought. It may have to be held over two days.

So, well done to our four new curd nerds. May there be many more cheese to come!

Will this article help someone you know? If so help them out by sharing now!

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About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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TGOG Readers On-line

Podcast Reviews

Always inspiring and entertaining!

August 4, 2016 by floriographer from Australia

I've crowed about Gavin's podcast before but I just have to recommend it once again - I love that he shares his learning as well as his successes - it helps the rest of us try try try again! Thanks Gavin!

ms

July 22, 2016 by Ketaea12 from New Zealand

I really enjoy listening to Gavin, he has a kind lovely voice. He covers some great relevant topics for the everyday greenie. With lots of tips or how to or what not to do.
Thanks Gavin, love it!!

Well worth your time to tune in

October 23, 2015 by A Vision Splendid from Australia

I can highly recommend Gavin’s podcast !
I have followed Gavin’s blog since the very beginning and have loved to see his journey unfold. Gavin has a lovely speaking voice so this podcast is always very easy to listen to.
Gavin has a very authentic approach to his green living lifestyle. He shares the ups and downs but always provides motivation and practical steps that we can all implement.

very good

June 28, 2015 by Scared pax from United Kingdom

This is a great podcast if you want to improve your life in so many aspects and become a more sustainable person. I love the soothing voice, the good pace, and it contains lots of useful information. Recommended!

opened my eyes

May 25, 2015 by Gorn4lyfe from Australia

A wonderful show!

Inspiring

April 30, 2015 by Alan Whelan from Ireland

This is a great podcast if you're looking for practical info on saving money by living more sustainably from someone who's made that journey over the last few years. Told in a nice, easy conversational style

Green Living, inspiring and practical

January 8, 2015 by EliseMac from Australia

Thanks Gav for sharing what has (and hasn't) worked along your journey for living a greener lifestyle. Inspiring and achievable for anyone, I look forward to this podcast weekly.

Local food equals less waste

December 27, 2014 by allotmentadventureswithjean from Australia

Another brilliant podcast from Gavin Webber encouraging us, and showing us how, to cut down on food miles, growing our own food, and cutting down on food waste. Gavin is a really interesting speaker, showing us how to eat better, growing our own food and how to live more sustainably.

Honestly australian

December 15, 2014 by HodgepodgeOz from Australia

Fantastic podcast, with a wide variety of well thought and researched topics. Gavin is a honest, forthright pod aster with a genuine interest in helping others get green. Like a day alongside is a day wasted, so too is a week without listening to Gavin. Highly recommended for people starting out, or those in the midst of their new lifestyle. Keep it up Gavin, wish there were more great reviews! Kimberley

Morning motivation

December 8, 2014 by Bunnyworm from Australia

Gavin has a great passion for living this greener lifestyle that motivates others to do the same. The podcasts are always interesting and informative. :)

Passionate Advocate

October 18, 2014 by BoomOpGirl from Australia

Gavin's enthusiasm and passion for creating a more sustainable world is nothing short of contagious. Thanks Gav, you are my weekly source of motivation for living a sustainable life! :)

Gavin speaks from the heart

October 13, 2014 by Green gavin from Australia

Gavin's podcasts are required listening for anyone planning to live a more sustainable life. He doesn't preach, but tells you his story from the heart. You'll laugh, smile, share in his concerns and along the way you'll pick up some great tips on living a simple life.

Green thoughts, so well iterated

October 9, 2014 by Kwasikwami from Australia

This is a wonderful podcast. Not only does Gavin talk knowledgeably on a range of sustainability topics from gardening tips all the way to the issues facing humanity as a whole, but he does so in such a wonderful voice, it's like listening to my Dad, love it!!

Easy listening inspiration on being green

September 24, 2014 by Broomedy from Australia

Gav knows how to share his journey to a more sustainable life in a manner that shows just how easy it really is. Not to mention healthier, economically beneficial and generally rewarding. The podcasts are an easy way to absorb Gav's great lifestyle. I recommend to anyone.

Thanks Gavin!

August 31, 2014 by Honeywoodmilk from Australia

Great practical advice for a greener lifestyle. This podcast is for anybody interested in growing their own food in suburbia, saving electricity, brewing beer, making cheese, all that wonderful business and most of all, saving money! Thanks Gavin, love the podcast mate!

Enjoyed those ideas for staying warm

August 15, 2014 by enduringdragon from United States

Like you we are having winter here in Chile—brrr! Every bit we can save on heating we will.

Green Podcasts

July 26, 2014 by Carneu from Australia

Excellent podcasts, which are full of information to help get started on a sustainable lifestyle.

Practical ideas and inspiration

July 19, 2014 by HeathrowHeath from Australia

I highly recommend Gavin's podcast and blog. Down to earth, entertaining and inspirational. Thank you.

Interesting & easy to listen to

April 27, 2014 by Velocity3 from New Zealand

Gavin & his guests make this green journey lots of fun.

Great green listen

April 18, 2014 by Obscurenickname from Australia

Gavin is a great down to earth, tell it like it is aussie with a passion for sustainability and growing food and making cheese